 Tina Brown |
Tina Brown and the New York Times have parted company. The Times sold its 30 percent stake in Brown’s Women in the World Media, which produces the Women in the World Summit events, for “a nominal amount” last year, according to a disclosure filed Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Brown, who has been editor-in-chief of both the New Yorker and Vanity Fair, formed Women in the World in 2010, and entered into a multiyear agreement with the Times in December 2014 to collaborate on the production of the series. Brown and her company moved into the Times office building in 2015. According to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, it is unclear when her team moved out. A dedicated Women in the World website is still up and running, but has no Times branding. The ninth annual Women in the World Summit is scheduled for April 12-14.
 |
Roku has rejected calls from antigun activists to stop offering NRA TV, which the Roku website calls “your source for the world's most comprehensive video coverage of Second Amendment issues, events and culture.” The company said in a statement that though it feels “deep sadness” over the shooting at Margery Stoneman High School that took the lives of 17 people, “we do not curate or censor based on viewpoint." While such businesses as Hertz, MetLife, Enterprise and United Airlines have ended their partnerships with the NRA, Roku, along with companies including Amazon, Apple and FedEx, have not done so. Roku says that it has no commercial relationship with the NRA, noting that NRA TV is available to consumers for free and carries no advertising. It also said that it welcomes "other important groups to use our platform to share their messages too,"
 Ken Kurson |
Modern Consensus, a news site offering insight and analysis into the cryptocurrency markets and blockchain technologies, has been launched by Ken Kurson, former editor-in-chief of the New York Observer. The site will offer what Kurson calls “intelligent, focused, and engaging reporting of the blockchain and cryptocurrency space – not just the technology but the people behind the technology.” Its name is taken from the consensus mechanism that many blockchains use to verify transactions. Lawrence Lewitinn, who recently served as the Observer’s deputy editor and business & technology senior editor, will serve as editor-in-chief of the site. Joining Kurson and Lewitinn are general manager Kevin Sanders, who will handle all business elements of the site, and contributing reporter Dylan Love, who was previously a tech reporter for International Business Times, The Daily Dot, and Business Insider.
USA TODAY brings on Jamie Stockwell as VP of news, effective March 30. Stockwell was most recently deputy managing editor of news for the Washington Post... YouTube expands its likeness detection capabilities to a pilot group of government officials, journalists and political candidates... The AP Fund for Journalism adds 50 news organizations to its local news program, bringing the total number of participating newsrooms to 100. 
Versant Media Group, the NBCUniversal cable TV spin-off, today reported its first financial results as 2025 revenues dipped 5.3 percent to $6.7B and standalone EBITDA dropped 9.1 percent to $2.2B.
Trump Media & Technology Group is discussing a spin-off of the Truth Social platform following the expected closing of its $6B merger deal with TAE Technologies... Condé Nast sells off Them, the digital LGBTQ-focused platform it launched in 2017, to Equalpride, publisher of Out, The Advocate, Out Traveler, Health PLUS Wellness and Pride.com... CBS News has parted ways with longevity influencer Peter Attia, one of the 19 contributors that editor-in-chief Bari Weiss brought on as part of her plan to present a wider variety of voices on the platform. 
Symbolic.ai forms a partnership with News Corp to begin using the company’s AI-native publisher platform in the newsrooms of News Corp publications to augment research, writing and publishing... Mediaite launches a newsletter that promises to give readers a summary of—media newsletters... The Fund for American Studies launches the Journalism Excellence Fellowship, a program that will provide promising young journalists the opportunity to work alongside top writers, reporters, and media professionals.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which has roots going back to 1786, is going out of business, the paper’s owners, Block Communications, announced on Jan. 7... GQ editor Will Welch is stepping down to take on a new Paris-based role with the musician Pharrell, who is also men’s creative director at Louis Vuitton... Semafor says it has raised $30 million on a $330 million valuation, following its first profitable year. 
